Red Cross Super Stars!

After being hijacked by the PCYC fundraiser yesterday I decided I really wanted to return to the Red Cross Tea Rooms to take todays Blip. This time I had my very happy friend with me and we thought it would be great to enjoy a cup of tea and a scone with the Red Cross volunteers.

We were met by volunteers, Margaret and Linda who regularly do the Wednesday shift. We explained our mission and were warmly welcomed and with 2 minutes we were sitting down to a beautiful hot cup of "real" tea in a "real" teapot!! Just as we were about to tackle our scones the girls called out, "Here comes Nancy". We looked up and could see a very determined lady striding purposefully down the lane way towards the tea rooms.

Well let me tell you, Nancy Stevens is a legend and is in the Red Cross history books. After starting way back in 1945 Nancy donated her 206th pint of blood at 80 years of age and only called it a day because you can't give blood once you turn 80. That was 8 years ago and she is still working tirelessly at the tea rooms making delicious sandwiches for the patrons.

The Red Cross Tea Rooms has been operating in Parramatta for just on 30 years now and is something of an institution. We just loved meeting Linda, Margaret and Nancy and I know we will make it a ritual to return there whenever we can. It's great to see Red Cross working at the coal face. In this case it's providing a service for people who perhaps can't afford the cafe set prices, who just want to be able to sit in a quiet place to have a cuppa or perhaps they love going there because there's someone to chat to who's happy to listen.
LR: Yvonne(Nancy's daughter), Margaret, Nancy, Linda and CCN

RED CROSS PLEDGE
We pledge ourselves as members of Red Cross to work for the improvement of health, the prevention of disease and the mitigation of suffering and to uphold the principles of the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent movement.

PS - We've just arrived home again and had a wonderful hot cup of tea!!